


The difference between a cell and a waiting room

by ceria



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-06
Updated: 2016-12-06
Packaged: 2018-09-07 02:00:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8778763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceria/pseuds/ceria
Summary: Five conversations Hannibal never wanted to have. And one he waited for.





	1. Jack

"Enjoying your view?"

"Hello, Jack."

"You didn't answer my question, Doctor Lecter."

The sun was just setting; Hannibal sat on the edge of the Stravinsky Fountain, watching other's expressions as they exited the museum. Even they could be touched by the beauty inside. "Yes, I am. Thank you for asking."

"I would like to discuss your offer," Jack said.

"Unless my lawyer altered the conditions, I'm positive you were not the preferred contact for this discussion."

"Dr. Lecter," Jack tsked, "I'm only here to tell you that I'm afraid the FBI isn't interested in negotiations."

"You're not interested in providing closure for all the families missing loved ones? Jack, whatever happened?"

"I sleep just fine at night," Jack assured him.

"About that, tell me, have you exchanged your queen-size bed for two twins yet? Between her medication and your nightmares, I suspect sharing a bed is… troublesome now."

He watched the varying emotions flit across Jack's face before he settled on, predictably, righteous. 

"A willing sacrifice to sleep alongside my loved one," Jack admitted.

Hannibal stilled, his expression remaining one of polite interest because Jack would see nothing else from him.


	2. Frederick

Predictably, Frederick began the conversation by gloating. Considering how long it had been since they'd last seen each other, Hannibal had been generous to guess the first barb would come eight sentences into the conversation. He'd overcompensated by four. 

Hannibal replied with a subtleness that most would not have misconstrued.

He wondered if Frederick would retain this conversation and think of it again once Hannibal left this waiting room everyone else thought of as a prison cell.

Only a few months had passed. His wait would surely be longer. Was this truly his life now?


	3. Alana

When he returned to his waiting room after Denise cleaned it, a single plastic flute of pink wine graced the table.

"What is this for?" 

"Do you know what today is?" she asked.

"Welcome back, Alana. Are we celebrating anniversaries now?" Hannibal asked.

"Of a sort," she admitted. While not in pregnancy clothes, she still carried a hint of her former weight. One year since Hannibal surrendered, her son would be three months old now and she would have just returned from maternity leave.

"You've decided to stop breast feeding," Hannibal realized. "Feeling freer to imbibe now?"

"I didn't wait to have my first drink with you, Hannibal. I'm just enjoying another one, because I can."

"It isn't a celebration if I don't know why we're drinking."

"It can be," Alana said.

"Isn't that a bit one-sided?"

"Would you like to know all the reasons I thought us sharing a drink is a lovely idea?"

"No thank you," Hannibal replied. "It should be close to your first year anniversary, I believe you married a couple months after killing Mason together, did you not? Once your pregnancy was confirmed? I saw Jack in court this morning looking well rested. Bella is having a good week. Would you like me to continue?"

"I have a few more boxes on my list to tick but you get the gist of it," Alana admitted. "Will you not share a drink with me?"

 _Will_. Hannibal knew her word choice was deliberate but he wasn't going to ask. Eventually Will would come to him and then would Hannibal ask.

Only then.


	4. Abigail

"You should pick a better world next time," she said, propped on the edge of his cot. From this angle, he couldn't see the scar. Scars. Hannibal opened one eye to watch his lovely almost-daughter.

"Pardon me?"

"If every option is available to be played through in one world or another, then you should decide to pick one more accommodating to Will. If you want to keep him."

"He isn't a pet for me to keep."

"If you say something often enough, do you think you'll believe it?" She wouldn't turn to look at him, Hannibal didn't like only seeing her unscarred side. "Do you think he's found a nice woman yet? Maybe married her by now?"

" _What_?"

"You remember the words he said to Margot. Moving on isn't just a distraction. It's a rebuke."

"Leave."

"Make me," she said with a satisfied grin.

Hannibal didn't.


	5. Hannibal

This is a waiting room, not a cell. While I wait, there can always be something else I may request. Something I deserve until the time is correct. I will accept nothing less. Permanence here will not be tolerated.

He will come and it will change.


	6. Will

"I need you, Hannibal." A pause, a head tilt, and a flutter of eyes. "Please."

 _Will_. Those five words outweighed every conversation and degradation suffered the past three years. Everything was worth hearing Will say that. To know that Will meant it. Let Alana and Jack assume Will belonged to them.

They would prove the whole world wrong soon enough.

**Author's Note:**

> This is an old idea but it kept tugging at my brain. Might as well get it out of there. I'm trying to work through how Hannibal might act post S3.


End file.
